


Expendable

by seasonofthegeek



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Marichat, Post-Battle, Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-14 01:41:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10526241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seasonofthegeek/pseuds/seasonofthegeek
Summary: Marinette gets frustrated when a battle-damaged Chat Noir tells her he's expendable.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Midoriko_sama](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Midoriko_sama/gifts).



> This story is a birthday prezzie for Midoriko-sama. Happy Birthday weekend! :)

Ladybug dropped to her balcony and scurried down the skylight, letting her transformation drop. That akuma had been a literal beast and she could already feel an ache settling into her muscles. She would definitely be sore tomorrow.

Marinette pulled her first aid kit out from her desk drawer and got it open and ready. Chat Noir hadn’t looked good when they parted ways. For reasons Tikki couldn’t explain, the Miraculous Cure had stopped working on the two heroes. 

The first time it happened, Chat Noir had stumbled onto her balcony with a yelp and a broken wrist. Marinette wrapped his wrist, gave him some pain medicine, and snuck him down the back stairs so he wouldn’t have to use his baton to get home. 

The second time he came to her, Marinette found Chat Noir passed out on her balcony before Ladybug had even made it back herself. He had taken quite a few blows to the head and Marinette sat with his head in her lap until he woke up.

It had become almost a race to see if she could beat Chat Noir back to her home after a particularly nasty battle. 

Marinette heard the telltale thump above her. She climbed the stairs to the skylight and poked her head out.

“Hi, Princess,” Chat Noir ground out through clenched teeth. A large gash ran from cheek to chin. When had that even happened? Reckless cat.

“Chat,” Marinette sighed. “Can you make it down the stairs?”

Chat Noir nodded and limped over to the skylight. Marinette didn’t like the way he was favoring his left side. The battle had been rough but how could she not have seen him get this hurt.

He made it down the stairs and staggered over to his usual spot on her lounger. He flopped down with a wince.

Marinette grabbed the first aid kit and met him. Chat Noir eyed it thoughtfully. “You knew I was coming?”

“I saw the news footage of the battle,” she lied, opening the alcohol wipes.

“I don’t remember seeing any cameras.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. How did you let yourself get so beat up?” Marinette gently drug the wipe against the wound on Chat’s face. He grimaced.

“All part of the job.”

“You could be more careful, you know.” She had cleaned away most of the blood and worked on applying butterfly bandages along the cut. It really wasn’t so bad now that she had it cleaned up. It didn’t even look like it would need stitches.

“Will it scar, do you think?”

“It isn’t very deep. I don’t think so.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

Marinette leaned back to look at him. 

“What? I thought girls liked scars,” he winked, green cat eyes sparkling.

Marinette laughed and applied the last bandage. “What else hurts?”

“You’ve been more than gracious enough, Princess. I’ll be on my way now.”

The girl eyed him skeptically and then poked one slender finger into his left side. His body rose off the lounger and he gave a loud yelp. 

“Can you take off the suit so I can see how bad it is?” Marinette was curious. There was no way to take her suit off without dropping her transformation but Chat Noir did have that handy zipper in the front. Maybe she should ask Tikki for a zipper.

“I can take care of it when I get home.”

“Don’t make me poke you again, Chat.”

The boy sighed. “I don’t think I can get the suit off enough to see my side. That’s what hurts.”

Marinette pondered that for a minute. “What if you turn your back to me and, uh, stop being Chat Noir?”

“You want me to drop my transformation?” His eyes were wide and uncertain.

“I won’t look at your face, I promise!” Marinette hurriedly assured him. “I just want to help. Please, Chat. I hate seeing you hurt.”

“You do?”

“Don’t be dense, silly kitty.” Marinette reached a hand up and gave him a quick scratch under the chin. Chat Noir stiffened for a moment and then relaxed into her hand. 

“Okay.” His voice was soft as he turned himself around on the lounger so the he faced her wall. He turned his head to the side. “Ready?”

“Y-yeah,” Marinette stammered. The enormity of the situation was sinking in. It was possible she would see who he really was tonight. She would finally know the identity of her partner, the person she trusted more than anyone else in the world. She had been such a stickler about the identities being a secret but maybe that wasn’t…

“Plagg, claws in,” Chat Noir murmured. A green light rushed up his body and Marinette found herself looking at a green cotton shirt. A black kwami appeared and gave Marinette a knowing look. She brought a finger to her lips and nodded her head in the direction of her bed where Tikki slept and he flittered away.

“Can you take your shirt off?”

The boy took in a deep breath and nodded. Marinette’s eyes began to burn when she saw the mottled skin of his back and the large gash in his side.

“Oh, Chat,” her voice broke as the tears started to fall.

“Marinette?” His voice was uneasy but he stayed facing forward.

“I don’t understand how you can do this to yourself. Why do you let this happen?”

“I have to protect Ladybug, whatever it takes.”

“You’re going to get yourself killed if you keep this up.”

Chat Noir shrugged. “I’m expendable.”

Marinette felt like she had been slapped in the face. Expendable? Expendable?! How dare he?! She gave him a hard smack on his bare shoulder.

“Ahhh! What the hell, Marinette?!” Chat halfway turned his head but stopped himself from making a full body rotation. 

“You listen here, you dumb cat. You are not expendable. Do you hear me?”

Chat Noir didn’t say anything but he turned his face forward again. 

“Say you aren’t expendable,” Marinette demanded. 

“You aren’t expendable,” he muttered petulantly.

“Don’t be an ass.”

A surprised chuckled floated back to her. Marinette took out a new alcohol wipe and went to work on his side. She leaned forward a bit and peeked a glance over his shoulder. Chat’s bare hands lay against his blue jean-covered thighs. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the bulky pink and green bracelet tied around his wrist.

“W-Where did you get that?”

“What?”

“That bracelet.”

Chat Noir stiffened and pulled away from her. “I need to get going. Plagg—“

“Adrien?”

He dropped his head forward. “I’m sorry, Marinette.”

“P-please look at me.”

Adrien stiffly turned his body around, avoiding her eyes.

“It’s been you the whole time?”

His brow furrowed. “The whole time?”

“The whole time we’ve been fighting. The whole time I’ve known you…”

Adrien finally looked up at her, green eyes wide. Marinette blushed.

“Marinette, what are you saying?”

“I’m not saying anything!” she backpedaled, standing. 

“Oh, for crying out loud,” Plagg groaned. “Don’t tell me you’re going to try explain your way out of this one.”

“Plagg!” Tikki cried.

“This is just ridiculous, Tik.” Plagg floated down from the bed. “Ladybug, Chat Noir. Chat Noir, meet Ladybug.” Plagg looked around. “Oh? The universe didn’t implode after all?”

“My Lady?” Adrien asked, cheeks flushing.

Marinette ducked her head. “It’s me, Chaton.”

“Well, this is just annoying,” he declared, throwing his hands up in the air.

Marinette’s head shot up in surprise. “What?”

“You’ve literally been in front of me the whole time!”

“Technically behind you,” she gave him a small smile and looked down at her lap.

He grinned back broadly. “Don’t go shy on me now, Princess. You just smacked me not ten minutes ago.”

Marinette’s face turned a deeper shade of red. 

“It’s just me. Just Adrien.”

“T-that’s the problem.”

“Oh,” he replied flatly. “Sorry. I guess I…I mean, we’re kind of friends at school, right? I thought we were…”

“We are friends!” she blurted.

Adrien looked relieved. “Okay, well, good…good. What’s the problem then?”

“You’re you.”

“I’m not sure what that’s supposed to mean.”

“You’re Adrien Agreste! You’re famous and rich and you’ve been throwing yourself in front of akumas and getting hurt because of me,” Marinette cried out.

“I’ll always protect you,” he replied quietly.

“Why? I didn’t understand when you were just Chat and now I really don’t understand.”

“Didn’t you ever think it was odd that I kept coming back to you when I was hurt, Marinette?” he asked after a few quiet moments.

“I guess…”

“I like you. I trust you. I didn’t realize until now just how much because I didn’t know you were Ladybug, but…”

“You like me?”

“Seriously?” He glanced at her. “I thought I made that perfectly clear.”

Marinette was sure Adrien could hear her heart pounding in her chest. Adrien Agreste liked her, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. The same Adrien Agreste who was currently sitting next to her (shirtless!) and taking one of her hands in his. 

“You’re my Lady, my Princess…m-my Marinette,” he said softly, stroking a thumb across her knuckles. “I-I mean, if you want to be.”

Marinette’s face had reached new shades of red. Artists would someday look back on this moment and find names for the new hues.

“I want to be.”

Adrien’s smile could have lit up ten city blocks. 

“On one condition.”

His smile drooped but he waited patiently.

Gathering her courage, Marinette looked him in the eyes. “Repeat after me: I, Adrien Agreste, am not expendable.”

Adrien huffed. “I, Adrien Agreste, am not expendable.”

“Good. Now, say: I, Chat Noir, am not expendable.”

“Marinette.”

“Adrien.”

He held her eyes for a moment and then looked away. “I, Chat Noir, am not expendable,” he muttered.

“Sorry, I didn’t quite get that.”

“I, Chat Noir, am not expendable,” he said louder. 

Marinette shyly leaned her head on his bare shoulder. “Thank you.”

“I think I deserve a kiss for that.”

“I think you need to slow down before you give me a heart attack, kitty,” she laughed a little, embarrassed. She lifted her head and grabbed up the first aid kit again. “Now let me finish getting you patched up. We have school in the morning.”


End file.
